Sakura of DOOM

Yuki Kaori - Blood Hound, Boys Next Door, and Kaine

Blood Hound - Kanou Rion's friend has disappeared, and she barges into Krankenhaus, a host club, based off of a business card her friend handed her. There, she runs across Suou and the other vampire hosts, solves the mystery of her friend's disappearance, and then goes on to solve another mystery while trying to find Suou again. There's some potentially interesting angst involving Rion as the possible reincarnation of some heavenly woman the vampires have been searching for, and a little more involving Rion, Suou, and their pasts, but it only stays there in the background, taunting the reader by showing a taste of what Blood Hound could be as a series, not a one shot. Also, while I'm glad Yuki Kaori is writing more women, it would be nice if all the women who aren't the heroine weren't all evil or victims.

Overall, very disappointing, and I will instead imagine an ideal version of the story, which has angst galore, barely sublimated sexual tension in the form of biting and neck licking, better loligoth outfits, and a heroine who has a mysterious past that is actually an important part of the story.

... or I'll just reread Vampire Knight.

Boys Next Door - I refuse to put an apostrophe in "Boys," even if Yuki Kaori wrote it in. Adrian Clay is an elementary teacher who murders male prostitutes in his spare time. Lawrence Hill ("La" or "Lawr," and no, I am not making that up) is a fourteen-year-old male prostitute who accidentally witnesses Adrian murdering people. It's a beautiful love story for the ages!

If you're Yuki Kaori, that is.

In other words, I love this to pieces. It is absolutely cracktastic and entirely wrong on so many levels—the underage sex! Dead mothers as the cause of their sons' psychoses! The CIRCUS! And did I mention the whole serial killing thing?—and yet, it is awesome! Awesome!

I am not sure I can write a good review for this. It has, in addition to the bad-and-wrong elements mentioned above, sexy finger licking, a tattoo, and killing someone/offering your body as a cannibalistic meal as the ultimate expression of love. I think people can decide for themselves if that is right up their alley or not. (I love it and make high-pitched squealing noises about it that I reserve solely for Yuki Kaori's most cracktastic work.)

There are also some short stories in the back, but I skipped them, as the art and the paneling were terrible. Tell me if I missed something good!

Kaine - Rock star Kaine has died in a car crash, and his twin brother must now replace him. It is cracktastic and gothic and has a proto-Kira/Setsuna relationship. Also, there are death wishes, evil women (OH YUKI KAORI WHY), and a mysterious album that causes everyone who listens to it to commit suicide. Everything else I can say about this is spoilery.

Spoilers!

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA KAINE IS ACTUALLY KAINE AND NOT HIS TWIN! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA AWESOME! He hated himself so much that he dressed his twin up as himself and then repressed all his memories so he could become a different person! And Die KNEW ALL ALONG because he could feel Kaine's worn-away fingerprints! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA AWESOME!

Also, there is some crack explanation of why the Endorphines' album makes people commit suicide that I laughed at, but mostly: KAINE IS ACTUALLY KAINE AND NOT HIS TWIN! And he is then institutionalized and Die takes care of him forever and tells him all of that is a bad memory! Yuki Kaori, I love you SO MUCH!

There were also short stories in the back of this that I skipped. Again, tell me if I missed something good!

Blood Hound was actually made into a ridiculously low-budget drama series (http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Vampire_Host)--and got a U.S. release (http://www.amazon.com/Bloodhound-Vampire-Gigolo-Vol-1/dp/B000N6UEQG/ref=pd_bbs_6?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1215289909&sr=8-6), if you can believe it. Sadly, it is not any better than the manga.

I really do wonder what sort of insane awesomeness Kaori Yuki would come up with if she had the chance to do a multi-volume vampire series.